Albany Brush Factory
1858. J.B. Armour, Brush Manufacturer, keeps constantly on hand a large assortment of brushes of all kinds and descriptions. When I was growing up, brushes were still a big thing. […]
Washington under the elms
Once upon a time, there was an elm tree in Albany’s Lafayette Park (just across from the Capitol). That tree’s grandparent (whatever that may mean) was a leafy witness to […]
Hoxsie bottle!
Do not want (at least not at $57), but I was pleasantly surprised when a Google alert brought me the news that there is a Hoxsie bottle out there for […]
Bent Fellies
It’s 1858, and you need bent fellies. You need Winne & Northrop. How did they bend their fellies? Well, it’s just possible they used Mann’s Felly-Building Machine. (A felly […]
Cigars, tobacco and school supplies
In 1905, Capital City News distributed newspapers, including the late New York evening papers and imported German publications. They also dabbled in school supplies, cigars and tobacco. That’s a combination […]
E.S. Randall, Fashionable Goods
1870. Being a gentleman of taste and judgment, I want to go to there.
Rinso
I’ll try for just a moment to focus only on the non-sexist elements of this Rinso detergent ad that ran in the Schenectady Gazette in 1921. Oh, wait. There […]
Two great tastes that go great together
Beer and bologna. In 1862, Frederick P. Durr was running a saloon and bologna manufactory at 166 State Street in Schenectady.
Albany, City of the Bald?
If you believe what Professor Henry A. DeMunn had to say in 1862 (and I demand to know the provenance of his doctoral degree), that he had been working for […]
Light fixtures at war prices!
I’ll admit that I’m not sure whether “war prices” were a good thing when John A. Edwards took out this ad in 1862’s Schenectady directory. This was the golden age […]